Finalists have been announced for THE 2006 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS which will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Monday, Dec. 4 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.

Tony Bennett will receive the Century Award and the special will feature performances by Janet Jackson, Fergie, The Killers, Gwen Stefani, The Fray, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris, Pharrell and Young Jeezy. THE 2006 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS recognizes the year's leading artists and songs as determined by actual performance on Billboard's weekly charts. The show celebrates the record-buying, Internet-downloading and radio-listening public's favorite songs, albums and performers, creating a true souvenir of the year in music.

Based on sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and radio information monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, Billboard's music charts are the world's most authoritative. Winners are determined by the 2006 year-end charts, which reflect the weekly charts that Billboard published from December 2005 through November 2006.

Finalists and winners for the BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS are based on the more than 250 annual chart recaps in Billboard�s Year In Music issue, dated Dec. 23.

The finalists, by category, of THE 2006 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS are as follows (artists are listed in alphabetical order):

Artist of the Year:
Chris Brown
Nickelback
Rascal Flatts

Male Artist of the Year:
Chris Brown
Ne-Yo
Sean Paul

Female Artist of the Year:
Beyonc�
Mary J. Blige
Rihanna

Duo/Group of the Year:
Nickelback
The Pussycat Dolls
Rascal Flatts

New Artist of the Year:
Chris Brown
The Fray
Ne-Yo

Album of the Year:
"All the Right Reasons," Nickelback
"High School Musical," Soundtrack
"Some Hearts," Carrie Underwood

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar De La Hoya vs. Bernard Hopkins and George Foreman vs. Michael Moorer; concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, Sting, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also is home to THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS on FOX, the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Benefit and the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA).

THE 2006 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS is executive-produced by Greg Sills and Michael Levitt. Bruce Gowers will direct and Wylleen May is the executive in charge of production.